Ferrari Targa Top Design Patented

Ferrari has filed a patent for a new targa top design with the European Patent Office.

The patent is for an invention that “relates to a car with a ‘Targa Top’ body,” that has a “coupe body with a rigid roof that is removable and is supported at the front by the upright of the windshield and at the rear by a robust full-width roll bar.” There’s nothing particularly special about the targa top’s design itself, but it could be a sign that Ferrari has a new targa-style vehicle in the works. The patent specifically mentions that the design would be inexpensive and easy to produce, so it seems likely this design will find its way into a production Ferrari of some sort.

Patent drawings are rarely indicative of the eventual finished product and serve as examples only, but the Ferrari F430 used in these patent drawings could be a sign that this targa top design will appear on a mid-engine V8 Ferrari. The Italian automaker hasn’t produced a mass-market, mid-engine targa top model since the 355 Targa went out of production in 1998, so this patent could signal the revival of the removable hardtop V8 Ferrari. A targa-style 488 GTB? We sure wouldn’t complain.

SEE ALSO: The Ferrari J50 is Finally Being Delivered to Owners

While a mass-market, mid-engine Ferrari targa model hasn’t been produced for 20 years, the automaker has produced some other limited edition vehicles with a removable hardtop in that time. The front-engine V12 575 Superamerica had a removable hardtop roof, as did the very exclsuvie LaFerrari Aperta. The even more exclusive Ferrari J50 is a mid-engine V8 Ferrari with a removable hardtop carbon fiber targa roof, but just 10 units were built and all of them were sold in Japan.

After seeing this patent, we wouldn’t be shocked if some sort of production Ferrari targa model debuted within the next year.

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